An Opinion

By Ben Armstrong NETHERWORLD Haunted House

We haunters love cool stuff: Deep themes, incredible levels of detail, complex animations and dazzling special effects. We go broke financing these areas and spend every waking hour designing, building or just thinking about them. But are they really what our patrons want? Many do of course, who wouldn't like a show brimming with high levels of detail, or so we think. We gather at conventions, share tapes, and post on message boards about how important these things are. But are we missing the boat?

Note: The most important thing is SAFTEY. The illusion of danger is good but real danger is unacceptable.

The 80/20 rule:

Every one has their theories about Haunted House design and operation, so here is mine: The 80/20 rule. I have come to believe that only 20 percent of an average audience really cares about detail, special effects, themes etc. These are your older patrons, Halloween enthusiasts, artistic people, Goths, and fellow haunters. They can enter a detailed library scene and actually look at the titles of the books. Peeling wallpaper is a joy to them, and really cool monsters make their day. But 80% of your average patrons want the basics: Good Actors, Good Scares, Chainsaws and Darkness! It is often tough for people like us to see this, since we are way beyond these things, since we are in that 20%. We often talk ourselves into believing the basics are cliché and unimportant. I for one never wanted to use a chainsaw. I was wrong!

Your Audience:

Do you listen to the same music as your audience? Do you watch the same TV programs? Chances are if you run your own show you are older than your average guests, and more likely to turn on a classic rock station than some edgy rap. Of course over time you can build a following of the detail-oriented folks, but think of what you are missing out on if you don't cater to the kids! I will never forget an event from our second season. Patrons had to escape a 7-foot robot, a huge spinning drill, and run between a million volt Tesla Coil and a ten-foot mutant roach to escape. Then for grins, at the exit we threw in a chainsaw. What were they afraid of? The chainsaw of course. When asked what scared them the most, the breathless guests would say, "when that guy in all black jumped out at me!" WHAT about our million-volt tesla coil, WHAT about our 10-foot long giant roach? The basics are what they want! Look at Larry's surveys on Hauntworld. While not scientific (They represent only website guests who choose to participate, not a random sample of the population) they are still very interesting. When asked what they like the best in Haunted Houses, they overwhelmingly say darkness and the unknown! Larry added a 40-50 thousand dollar animated preshow to his main attraction last year. They overwhelmingly preferred his black out maze! But what do we focus all of our money and time on? The details, not the basics.

Actors and the Basics:

Joe Jensen said it best I think. He said to me that haunters don't focus on actors because they are too difficult to control. You can make an animation do exactly what you want, but an actor is very different. We often pay little attention to crafting the performances of the folks who are the lifeblood of our shows. How many of you have worked for months on an elaborate show only to hire someone on the spot and put them into your haunt with virtually no training? I know we have. I have come to believe that a good actor performing at their peak is absolutely the best thing in a Haunted House. They are random, spontaneous, and in your face! They might just really be crazy…and that is what the guests love. But on the flip side, nothing is quite as embarrassing as a bad actor. How many times have you visited an attraction and rounded a corner to confront a black robed character with a mask pulled up onto their head, chugging a soda? They look at you, dazed, and either ignore you, retreat, or poke at you half-heartedly with their free hand and give a feeble RAH! Why that detailed wallpaper would never let you down like that, no sir! There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of basic haunts out there that scare the crap out of people with nothing but actors. When I think back to the old days, the guests still fell down, cried and ran out screaming. They didn't care that back then the names on the tombstones were misspelled, that the masks were store bought, and that the monsters wore tennis shoes.

But we have convinced ourselves that these details are the most important things.

An About Face - Why Detail, and Special Effects are Important:

But small haunts don't have to confront the same issues the big haunts do: Many days of operation and massive attendance. That is where all the cool stuff really plays a part. We all know that the quality of a show drops with big numbers. The actors get worn out, and we face a critical and horrible choice - run guests through as fast as possible or make them wait for hours. A good problem to have, but a difficult situation to manage. This is when a show that relies just on the basics, breaks down completely. When people are caught in a line in your show, you better have detail! Even 15 year olds who would never have cared will start laughing at that floppy rubber bat you bought at Wal-mart. Big special effects, cool scenic elements, and layers of detail can entertain when big crowds and exhaustion make it more difficult to get as many scares. Details are also critical when confronting the media; you do need things that look good under blazing camera lights!

Actors Vs. Animations

I have already said how important actors are to your show…in many ways they are the single most important things. Think about movies…you can have a good movie with no effects and good actors, but the reverse is not true. But are animations important? Absolutely! They are like the cat that jumps out of a closet in a scary movie…good for a quick sudden shock, a burst of adrenaline. But leave the real terror to the actors! I like to think of it as building impacts. Every actor is good for one or more impacts per show, even more if you build multiple attack points into your design. Every animation is good for at best one impact. In a high throughput show, you want to hit them as many times as possible. But the more people that go through, the fewer impacts you can get from your actors. In an area where they could have scared a group 4 times, they will be lucky to get them once or twice. Animations really shine at this point, they keep hitting the groups and never stop, that is until they break! I would never think of replacing an actor with an animation, but rather I think of it as adding actors to take you over the top.

Getting to 100%

So what is the point of my rant? I think that we all start with the basics, and as we grow we begin to focus more on the details. Obsession with details to the exclusion of the basics is a sure way to begin losing potential patrons. It is a personal goal of ours to continue working towards the highest level of detail our time and money can afford, while remaining focused on the basics. It is hard to do! One of the complaints we would get from time to time over the years was that our show was too bright! Of course we want to show off all our cool props! Mistake. If they want the dark, give them the dark. Give them the saw. Weird actors in great make-ups and costumes are great, but give them the boo from the shadows. Give them what they want AND what you want, and you should be well rewarded for your efforts. You need to focus on ALL 100% to survive and flourish when thousands are at your door. Attention to detail (Scenic, Soundscapes, Animation, Special Effects, etc.) while focusing on the basics (Actors, Scares, Chainsaws and Darkness) is what makes a haunted house ROCK!